A man without a heroic bent starts dying at the age of thirty.
A child is the root of the heart.
I adore my black skin and my kinky hair. The Negro hair is more educated than the white man's hair. Because with Negro hair, where you put it, it stays. It's obedient. The hair of the white, just give one quick movement, and it's out of place. It won't obey. If reincarnation exists I want to come back black.
I classify Sao Paolo this way: The Governor's Palace is the living room. The mayor's office is the dining room and the city is the garden. And the favela is the back yard where they throw the garbage.
Who has gone hungry learns to think of the future and of the children.
The book is man's best invention so far.
When I am in the city I have the impression that I am in a living room with crystal chandeliers, rugs of velvet, and satin cushions. And when I'm in the favela I have the impression that I'm a useless object, destined to be forever in a garbage dump.
At the heart of the celebration, there are the poor. If [they] are excluded, it is not longer a celebration. [. . . ] A celebration must always be a festival of the poor.
Sex is the divine in its most available epiphany.
It's important to be driven and have goals. You want an independent woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go after it. It's attractive to me when a woman is doing what she loves. It makes me want to know more.
I always felt through writing that I wanted to rotate the world slightly.